Officer describes stabbing scene

The first officer to arrive at Room 133 of the Econo Lodge on North Fares Avenue on Oct. 3, 2006, told jurors on Tuesday he found the defendant standing in the room with blood on him, the victim already dead near a pool of blood on the floor.

Jason Wells, 28, is charged with murder in the stabbing death of John Carter, 62, at the motel where the two worked.

Medical Examiner Mark Levaughn told jurors Tuesday that Carter died from a stab wound to the heart and lung, and he had defensive wounds on his hands and other abrasions and cuts.

Testimony on Tuesday offered more details into what happened immediately after Carter was killed.

Yolinda Brooks, a clerk at the motel, previously said Carter and Wells had gotten into an argument the night of the killing.

She said not long afterward, Wells called and told her to come to the room because something bad had happened. Brooks said she called 911, then went to the room. When she walked in, she saw Carter surrounded by a pool of blood. She called 911 again.

Evansville Police Department officer David Burris was the first to arrive.

Burris said when he walked in, Wells was standing in the room with blood on his clothes.

&quot;It looked like he was getting ready to leave,&quot; Burris said.

Burris said he checked Carter for a pulse, and when he couldn't find one, he handcuffed Wells and waited outside until other officers arrived.

Burris said he asked Wells what had happened, and Wells reportedly told him Carter had hit his chest on the corner of a table.

&quot;He said that he got blood on him from picking up the victim and trying to move him,&quot; Burris said.

Walker also displayed pictures of a &quot;gash&quot; near Wells' eye and abrasions on his left hand.

The opposing attorneys previously painted differing portraits of the relationship between the victim and defendant.

Carter was married and had children, but investigators have indicated Carter and Wells were lovers and lived together in a room at the motel.

Defense attorney John Brinson has said Carter was a controlling, abusive partner who drove Wells to an act he of self-defense.

Scattered among the seats in the courtroom so far this week are family and friends of both the defendant and victim.

Carter's relatives have declined to speak on the record, but have expressed their disappointment over some evidence and testimony involving his character. The relatives are adamant that some of the unsavory depictions of Carter are false.

David Rankin testified that on the night of Carter's death, Wells called him around 3 a.m. and asked for a ride to the hospital.

&quot;He said to come and get him because he had a cut over his eye,&quot; Rankin said.

Rankin said he was reluctant to leave home at that hour, and asked if Carter could give Wells a ride instead.

&quot;He told me he was cut, too,&quot; Rankin said.

Rankin said Wells tole him that he and Carter had &quot;gotten into it.&quot;

&quot;He said Mr. Carter was bleeding too, and that he had more blood on him than Jason had on him,&quot; Rankin said.

Testimony resumes today. The trial is expected to last until Thursday.